China Invests 4 bln Yuan in ITER Project in Decade

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China has invested four billion yuan (about 600 million U.S. dollars) in the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) project in the past 10 years, the Ministry of Science and Technology (MST) announced Tuesday.

The largest international scientific cooperation project in the world, the ITER is a France-based international nuclear fusion research and engineering project that explores commercial uses of fusion power.

It is jointly funded by China, the EU, India, Japan, Republic of Korea, Russia and the United States.

"Since 2008, China has carried out nearly 120 fusion power projects and has made leading achievements," said Luo Delong from the MST.

Chinese scientists set a record by achieving 101.2 seconds of steady-state H-mode operation of the tokamak in July, an experimental device designed to harness the energy of fusion.

According to the ITER's plan, the construction of the "artificial sun" will be completed by 2025, and the commercial uses of fusion power is expected to be available around 2050, said Pan Chuanhong from the MST. (Xinhua)

The first ITER magnet component, PF4 cryostat feeder through, arrived in Cadarache on 25th October. A ceremony was held in Institute for Magnetic Fusion Research (IRFM) to celebrate this delivery from China.